Chapter 218: All the Trouble with Expansion
In Lu Yiming's impression, Qian Hongli was a shrewd businessman, otherwise he would not have found the right track in the 1990s and opened a computer assembly store. His subsequent bankruptcy was not due to problems in his store management, but because he was eliminated by the trend of the times.
To put it bluntly, it’s all because of poverty.
Although his shop made money, it was nothing compared to that of the capitalists.
Once the Internet became popular, online shopping flourished. For an old and dilapidated shop like his that only serves the surrounding area, with high rental costs, it has no price advantage compared to online shops that only need to consider logistics and distribution. It is only a matter of time before it is eliminated.
But now, the capital problem has been solved by Lu Yiming first. Logically speaking, Qian Hongli's future development should be smooth, and every step should be in line with the times.
As a result, the times have stepped on his prostate and he has been cheated.
Hearing Qian Hongli's hurried tone on the phone, Lu Yiming realized that this might not be a small matter, but he still remained rational and calm, asking the reason: "Who cheated you? How much did you cheat? Just tell me slowly, don't be anxious, forget it, I'll go over now, you wait a moment."
"Okay, okay, come over here quickly, we'll talk when we meet."
Lu Yiming stuffed all the trophies and certificates into Wu Kejun's hands and prepared to leave: "I have something to do, please take this back to school for me."
“Hey you…”
Wu Kejun was immediately upset when he saw Lu Yiming was about to run away.
Lu Yiming thought about it, then casually took out a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket and threw it into Wu Kejun's hand, saying with a smile, "This money is a celebration. I'll treat you to fried chicken and Coke."
After saying goodbye to everyone, Lu Yiming quickly arrived at the headquarters of Jianlai Technology and met Qian Hongli, who looked anxious.
"Boss Lu, you are finally here."
Qian Hongli's face was full of worry. When he saw Lu Yiming coming, he immediately felt like he had seen a savior.
Lu Yiming opened the refrigerator, took out a bottle of iced Coke, sat down on the sofa, gulped down half the bottle, and then burped comfortably. He asked about the details of the incident: "Tell me, I'm very curious, who is so blind to pit us."
Qian Hongli sighed and told the whole story: "Some time ago, a telecommunications company came to our company and placed a batch of orders, saying that they wanted to purchase 500 office computers, and the budget for each computer was 20,000 yuan. In order to complete the order, the company worked overtime. After the delivery yesterday, the telecommunications company said that it has no money now and owes it first. The problem is that the cost is 7 or 8 million. If we can't get it back, our capital chain will be in trouble."
"What the hell?"
When Lu Yiming heard this, he immediately became Spartan.
Who doesn't know what kind of operators are? Now that Telecom is saying it owes them money, it's clear that it wants to get something for free.
Although nominally this was a unilateral breach of contract by Telecom, it has a backer after all, and the person in charge of this matter is even related to some big shots. Even if Jianlai Technology takes the contract to court, let alone whether it can win the lawsuit, even if it wins, enforcement will be a big problem.
The other party doesn't have to do anything. If they drag you along for three to five years, you will collapse.
If you wait until you go bankrupt, you won’t have to pay me anymore.
Lu Yiming has seen this kind of thing many times, and it is not new at all.
According to the survey, the average lifespan of private enterprises in Xia is about three and a half years, and the average lifespan of small and medium-sized enterprises is even shorter, at only two and a half years.
In comparison, the average lifespan of small and medium-sized enterprises in the United States is more than eight years, while in Japan, the average lifespan of small and medium-sized enterprises has exceeded ten years, reaching twelve and a half years, and is moving towards twenty years.
In contrast, in Xia Country, the average lifespan of large companies is only seven to nine years, while the average lifespan of large companies in European and American countries is forty years, and the average lifespan of large companies in Japan is fifty-eight years.
It can be seen from the data that the so-called capitalists and big enterprises in the country are worse than pigs and dogs in the face of power. Every one of them is a stinking younger brother.
The current size of Jianlai Technology is the smallest among private enterprises.
So Qian Hongli and his people talked to the telecommunications company several times. The other party did not deny the debt, but said that they had no cash and asked Jianlai Technology to wait a little longer. They even brought up the goodwill issue, which made Qian Hongli lose his temper.
With no other options left, Qian Hongli had no choice but to ask Lu Yiming for help.
Although Lu Yiming had seen countless cases like this, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation. He raised his eyebrows and said in a neutral tone, "Tell me more about how you got this order. As far as I know, many brand companies should be interested in this kind of order. Isn't Lenovo the company that likes this kind of business the most? They sell products at high prices and with low specifications, relying on connections to sell to the wronged."
Qian Hongli sighed, his tone even more self-blaming: "Ah, come to think of it, this is all my fault. Since Jianlai Technology was established, orders have been pouring in. The total order sales have exceeded 100 million, and more than 10,000 computers have been delivered. So I became arrogant, and when I saw this tender, I took it directly. The price quoted for each computer was 2,000 yuan cheaper than the L-brand computer."
“Good fellow…”
Lu Yiming was stunned: "You are really arrogant to snatch the order from L Company."
Sighing in his heart, Lu Yiming was quite familiar with Qian Hongli's personality and character. He felt that Qian Hongli was good in every other way except that he was a little too bold sometimes, and often dared to do business that other peers dared not to do.
The fact that he allowed himself to buy on credit before showed that he was a man who took risks for the sake of profit.
But nine out of ten times you lose in gambling. Just because Lu Yiming doesn't cheat him doesn't mean others won't cheat him.
So, Qian Hongli fell directly into the trap.
Lu Yi knew that Qian Hongli wanted to be successful, but if he took too big a step, it would be easy to get into trouble, so he had to pour cold water on him: "In the past year, even in the face of the financial crisis, L Company's turnover exceeded 17.6 billion, product sales revenue was 11.1 billion, and a total of 760,000 computers were sold, ranking first in the domestic market for three consecutive years. The profit and tax alone added up to more than 500 million. How far have we come?"
After hearing what Lu Yiming said, Qian Hongli felt very ashamed. He thought about his actions in recent days and sighed: "Hey, I admit that I have been drifting these days."
Lu Yiming didn't blame him too much, but comforted him: "It's okay, every failure makes you wiser, this time just think of it as paying for a lesson."
Just waste time with the opponent. Jianlai Technology can’t afford it.
I would rather waste my time than give up.
Fortunately, Lu Yiming is not a petty person and will not lose his temper over trivial matters.
Qian Hongli himself was very depressed: "This is more than 10 million yuan. It has taken up so many resources. If the funds cannot be recovered, the company's operations may be in trouble."
"It's just money..."
Lu Yiming looked relaxed: "As long as the problem can be solved with money, it is not a problem. Jianlai Technology is now on the right track, and it is time to introduce strategic investment."
"Introduce strategic investment to Jianlai Investment?"
Qian Hongli frowned slightly.
In fact, he was not very happy with Lu Yiming's decision.
Originally, the two major shareholders shared the company's equity equally, and Lu Yiming was a hands-off manager, which was equivalent to him holding all the power and having the final say. Now Lu Yiming said he wanted to introduce strategic investment. Isn't this asking more shareholders to share power with him for no reason?
"Yes, isn't the company short of funds now? If we don't introduce strategic investment, where will the money come from? How about I increase the investment? Or I can just buy Jianlai Technology and you can just be the working emperor?"
After hearing what Lu Yiming said, Qian Hongli was suddenly at a loss.
After all, the current lack of money of Jianlai Technology is all caused by him.
If he doesn't become arrogant, and continues to proceed steadily and accumulate slowly, this problem will not arise.
Lu Yiming did not take advantage of the situation to directly acquire Jianlai Technology as a whole, which was considered giving face to Qian Hongli.
Even brothers have to settle accounts clearly, let alone they are just ordinary friends. When doing business together, the most taboo thing is to have too many people talking and too many different opinions.
In the past, the two of them shared the equity equally. Lu Yiming did not interfere in the specific operations and only provided strategic guidance, so Qian Hongli could feel a little relieved.
If Lu Yiming continues to inject capital now, Qian Hongli's shares will inevitably be diluted. Given his personality, he will probably not be able to sleep well in the future.
Seeing Qian Hongli didn't say anything, Lu Yiming continued, "How about this, we each take out 15% of the shares and raise 300 million yuan to attract foreign investment, what do you think?"
When Qian Hongli heard this, he was shocked.
Thirty percent of the shares, valued at three hundred million, doesn't this mean that Lu Yiming directly valued Jianlai Technology at one billion?
Just a few months ago, Qian Hongli was still haggling over a one-dollar or two-dollar discount, but unexpectedly, within just a few days, the unit "billion" appeared in his words.
For a moment, he even thought that he was left behind by the country's inflation.
With doubt and worry, Qian Hongli couldn't help asking: "We have only been in business for more than a month, and the initial capital is only 10 million. With such a high valuation, is there any fool willing to take it?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "This is a case of Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai, one willing to fight and the other willing to be beaten, how can you call them stupid? For rich people, we should be polite and provide attentive service, understand?"
Qian Hongli was speechless after hearing this, "You are about to imitate Zhou Gongjin and whip people with a whip, and you still say that the service should be attentive?
Your service doesn't sound serious.
A few days later, at Jingwan Group headquarters.
In the chairman's office, Lin Shuyi had a dark face and seemed to be breathing heavily through her nostrils. She stared at Lu Yiming across the table.
"You valued a computer company that was established less than two months ago at 1 billion. Do you think I'm stupid?"
Obviously, Lin Shuyi could not hide the fact that Lu Yiming used funds to buy shares of Jianlai Technology.
After all, this investment was made with the Lin family's money.
Facing Lin Shuyi's questioning, Lu Yiming crossed his legs calmly and replied slowly, "Why are you so angry? You know it's easy to get angry like this, don't you?"
Lin Shuyi's face was as cold as frost, and she stared at Lu Yiming fiercely, saying, "I need an explanation."
In the name of Future Capital, he gave Jianlai Technology a high valuation and then bought shares. Lu Yi knew this matter very well. Analyzing from the result, he was indeed suspected of cashing out Jingwan Group's funds. No matter how you look at it, he looks like a scammer.
But facing Lin Shuyi's anger, Lu Yiming was not panicked at all.
"We agreed that I had the final say on how to use the funds, and you didn't ask. But as soon as I made a move, you doubted my motives. Where is the sincerity and mutual trust between people? Would a sincere gentleman like me covet your little money?"
Lin Shuyi gritted her teeth, her tone almost unable to be suppressed: "That little money? That's three hundred million!"
Although she had some favorable impression of Lu Yiming and was optimistic about his vision and pattern, it was precisely because of this that Lin Shuyi found it difficult to fully trust Lu Yiming.
Following her father, Lin Shuyi has seen too many intrigues in the business world. It is not uncommon for fathers and sons and brothers to turn against each other for money. What's more, she and Lu Yiming are not related, but just partners.
Lin Shuyi couldn't help but wonder if she was a bit too hasty in handing over 800 million yuan of funds to Future Capital for operation?
It was Lu Yiming's two great victories in the financial market that gave her unnecessary expectations, and now his true colors are revealed, digging a hole and burying her in it.
Despite Lin Shuyi's suspicion and dissatisfaction, Lu Yiming's smile remained unchanged: "Am I so untrustworthy in your eyes?"
Lin Shuyi pursed her lips: "What do you think?"
Lu Yiming sighed: "Alas, I turned my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon only shines on the ditch."
After sighing, Lu Yiming calmly took out a sales list of Jianlai Technology from his backpack and pushed it in front of Lin Shuyi: "Take a look at this first, and then we'll talk."
After reading this, Lin Shuyi was amazed. Just over a month after its establishment, the turnover of Keyway Technology exceeded 100 million? If calculated based on the full year, wouldn't it exceed 10 billion?
Although compared with L Company's 17.6 billion in sales, Jianlai Technology's annual revenue is insignificant, less than one-seventeenth of the other party.
But the problem is that Jianlai Technology is developing rapidly. At this speed, even if it doesn’t surpass L Company, it can at least secure a place in the domestic computer market.
The benefits here are huge.
Lu Yiming noticed the change in Lin Shuyi's expression and asked with a smile, "How is it? Do you still think that 300 million is a big loss?"
Through this operation, Lu Yiming cashed out 150 million yuan using his 15% stake, which was a 30-fold return compared to the original cost of 5 million yuan .
Fortunately, Jianlai Technology is not listed, otherwise it would be insider trading and illegal cashing. As an investor, Lin Shuyi would be sued for sure.
Although Lin Shuyi was moved, she was still a little unconvinced. Seeing Lu Yiming's smug look, she felt that she must have suffered a great loss: "Humph, that's just the expected future development, not now."
Lu Yiming shook his head helplessly and said, "Hey, you, you really have long hair but short knowledge."
Lin Shuyi, who considered herself a strong woman, was unhappy when she heard this and slammed the table angrily: "Are you discriminating against us women by saying this?"
Lu Yiming teased: "Don't get me wrong, I definitely don't mean to discriminate against women. I just discriminate against fools. It has nothing to do with gender."
"Okay, you mean I'm stupid?"
Lu Yiming glanced at her and said, "Aren't you stupid?"
